They Like It When I Do That
by ancara-iii
Summary: Drabble. One Shot. Pointless. Some of the Autobots' alt modes are more appealing than others.


"**They Like It When I Do That"**

DISCLAIMER: Once again…I own NOTHING. NOTHING at all…Trasformers is HasTak Property, NOT mine…got it? Got it? Good. No money being made here. Enjoy.

At first he didn't understand the strange motion that was being directed at him whenever he would drive in his alt mode. Strangely enough, he found, it was often human younglings that would perform the strange jerking action at him as he drove and he originally thought that perhaps it could be some type of glitch with the human's motor control. However, after idly mentioning it to Ratchet and not coming to any sort of conclusion as to what could be happening, he let it slip his processor. That is until he found himself once again on the highway.

The leader of the Autobots was currently returning from a rendezvous with an unidentified incoming Cybertronian signal. Ratchet had _persuaded_ Optimus to leave his office at NEST HQ and to accompany Ironhide for the rendezvous mission…something about not wanting to have to deal with a stir crazy Prime. Optimus, of course retaliated by thoughtfully _inviting_ his CMO along under the same circumstances. Sam of course was brought along in an unofficial human ambassador capacity…or so it was called…in reality Optimus didn't have the spark to leave the bored-to-tears teenager at the base as Bumblebee was currently on a scouting mission elsewhere.

So, as it was, the three Cybertronians and one human were headed back towards the base after successfully quashing a Decepticon landing…well, in reality the three Autobots did the literal quashing while Sam in effect spent most of his time running and screaming. Never the less, Sam found himself riding with Optimus in hopes of escaping the teasing of Ironhide and salvaging what he could of his fragile male pride.

As the hours and the long winding highway dragged on the four settled into a peaceful rhythm… Sam fiddling with Optimus' radio and Optimus trying to keep Ratchet and Ironhide from tearing each other apart. Just as Ratchet was about redesign Ironhide's exterior plating with his buzzsaw, a wood-panelled station wagon flew passed the strange convoy.

Optimus was the first to notice the human younglings packed into the back of the station wagon amidst the heaps of baggage and toys. Sure enough, as soon as the younglings caught sight of Optimus the strange limb-jerking motions commenced. Curiosity finally overwhelmed Optimus and as he was about to ask Sam what was wrong with the other humans, he was interrupted…

"Bet you get that a lot, huh Big Guy" Sam couldn't help but chuckle. Leaving a thoroughly confused Optimus to ponder why the younglings were still frantically gesturing at him.

"Well…aren't you going to honk your horn?" Sam, still grinning, playfully poked the dash… "It's like your civic duty, or something – you _are_ an 18-wheeler after all.

"Samuel, what significance could one's number of axels play, and why would it be relative to me 'honking my horn'?" The Peterbilt questioned, not understanding the logic behind the strange human custom, but getting the feeling that he was somehow becoming the butt of a joke.

"Cmon Optimus…seriously?! You're a semi! When people make that air horn honking gesture you're supposed to honk your horn! It's like an unwritten rule or something! You just HAVE to."

Not understanding how blaring his airhorn could possibly benefit the human younglings, and becoming increasingly embarrassed due to the laughing he could hear coming from Ratchet and Ironhide through the comm, Optimus nevertheless conceded and blasted the horn for all it was worth, watching in amusement as the now ecstatic younglings in the station wagon cheered loudly, even as Sam released a chuckle.

"Well, I believe you've found the answer to your question Prime" came Ratchet's amused voice through the semi's radio as the Hummer pulled alongside...

"Seems you're something of an amusement to the Earth children Prime." came the amused voice of his weapon's specialist as the Topkick chuckled.

"Yes, and remember Optimus, it's your 'civic duty'. We want to maintain positive relations with the inhabitants of this planet after all…" came the slightly smug reply of the chartreuse Hummer.

Just as Prime was about to comment on where his CMO could cram his 'civic duty', he noticed the younglings frantically gesturing again…only this time it was different…

Sam couldn't hold back his laughter anymore as he nearly burst into tears…he watched as the children now made frantic circling motions with their fingers as they eyed the brightly coloured Search and Rescue Hummer…"They.._gasp_….want you to… _snort_…turn on your lights and siren Ratch…" laughed a teary-eyed Sam.

Struggling to contain his mirth and be heard over the guffawing weapon's specialist, an overly-amused Prime cut in, "Yes Ratchet, it _is_ after all, your 'civic duty'.

END

* Now, I'm not sure if these hand motions/arm signals are universal or not, so hopefully you readers understood where I was going with this. I don't know how many of you have done this when you were young either :P I remember doing it, and it was a blast.

*PS. If you don't know what horn-honking-motion I was referring too or if any of you are interested-- this plot bunny developed after I watched a Bombardier commercial….Just search "Bombardier Ad" on Youtube. It's the First result, the one with the monorail.

"They like it when I do that." :P


End file.
